Aliens: Outbreak
by TheInfamousReno
Summary: A marine must destroy a hive on a populated world.


Aliens : Outbreak  
  
Wet, humid air, like the type that usually followed an afternoon storm blew through Master Sergeant Miller's short brown hair. He sighed and reclined against a street lamp, waiting for Corporal Nelson to return from below with the report.  
  
Sighing again, he reached down and pulled a cigarette out of his utility pack and lit it. Ever since scientists on Earth had eliminated the risk of cancer, cigarette smoking was all the rage again, especially in the army. Why had he been assigned here ? They had task forces specifically formed for dealing with situations like these, and even they were somewhat ineffectual and pointless. Most of the time what they did was nuke the hell out of whatever planet was experiencing the outbreak. Most of the time it was the same story. Some infected tourist came in from offworld, carrying a queen into a populated area. The queen hatched, and would escape into the basement of some building, mature, and start hiving. If the hive could be located while it was still in its' infancy, an adolescent queen and one or two soldiers, it could be neutralized with relative ease. However, soldiers had a bad habit of hiding eggs in out of the way places, like utility rooms. Some dog or something would come across it and the whole cycle would begin anew.  
  
That was why, most of the time they just nuked the place and saved themselves the trouble.  
  
Most of the masses were completely ignorant of their existence. The nuclear strikes would be blamed on asteroids, and the people would go on believing what they were told to believe.  
  
Miller sighed and shook his head. If he didn't handle this, they were all in a world of trouble.  
  
Nelson emerged from the sewer, slightly shaken.  
  
"It's pretty bad. Over two miles of hived relays and tunnels. All very small and confined. No telling how many there are, or how long this hive had been here. It could only be one very busy worker, or a few soldiers."  
  
Miller sighed  
  
"No way to tell if there's a queen ?"  
  
"No sir. We can't get but two men into the tunnels at a time, and none of them are willing to go beyond the first junction."  
  
Master Sergeant Miller chuckled.  
  
"No, of course not. Better just to sit back and wait to get burned, right ?"  
  
Nelson swallowed hard. Miller knew he was one of the those unwilling to procede.  
  
"Hmm ... Have you got an overhead map of this area ?"  
  
"Yes, sir"  
  
Nelson handed him a noteputer with an overlay of the hived sewer system on it. It was a massive grid, with several larger square areas where the lines interesected, indicating an area large enough for a man to stand in. A larger square caught his eye near the very top of the map.  
  
(Turbine Chamber ... If there's a queen, that's the only place big enough to hold her ...)  
  
"You are relieved. Go do ... whatever."  
  
Miller spun and made his way over to the manhole, and climbed down the ladder into the first relay. A desk was set up in the center of the ten foot by ten foot room, and three soldiers were leaning over it, studying a map with their flashlights.  
  
Staff Sergeant Hutchins looked up as Miller approached.  
  
"What are we gonna do sir ? There's no way we can search all of this in the next six hours !"  
  
"Hmm ... we'll have to move quick ... I assume you two are willing to help us ?"  
  
The other two soldiers nodded.  
  
"Good. Each unit is to have one flamer and one pulse rifle. Be sure to keep your small arms on hand. You two will search the eastern section, and Hutchins and I will search the Western section. If you become overwhelmed, radio in and extract yourselves immediately. Same goes if you encounter any eggs, or cocoons."  
  
"Eggs are easily neutralized, and how could cocoons be a threat ?"  
  
Miller shook his head.  
  
"That means there's a queen. And if there's a queen, we're all royally fucked"  
  
One of the soldiers looked up.  
  
"They'd burn us ?"  
  
"You'd better believe it."  
  
Miller stood as one of the soldiers handed him a pulse rifle.  
  
"Alright then, move out !"  
  
Miller and Hutchins immediately made their way over to the westernmost tunnel. There was no hiving yet, but Miller could smell the cloying, rotting odor of it wafting from somewhere further down the tunnel. He proceeded cautiously, flipping the light on his rifle on and shining it down the corridor. Two walkways ran along either side of a ten foot wide stream of putrid water. The ceiling was only about six inches away from Miller's head, even in a crouch, as he moved down the corridor at a brisk pace.  
  
It was about two minutes before he encountered the first signs of hiving. A tendril of the stuff was growing out of a crack in the wall. He didn't know exactly how they made the stuff. He had heard multiple theories, ranging from spittle secretions to some sort of seeding by the workers. Hutchins had been relatively silent. Turning, Miller saw him a few feet back, examining the stream.  
  
"What's up ?"  
  
"I thought I saw something moving ..."  
  
He examined the stream with his light. The water was murky, and the light didn't penetrate but less than two feet.  
  
"Use your blacklight."  
  
Hutchins nodded and switched on the black lamp. For some reason, the creatures stood out in neon colors against a black light. Unfortunately, portable black lights ate up batteries, and thus were short lived for the most part. They were also largely ineffective in a hived area, as the hiving itself would glow the same color as they did.  
  
"Nothing."  
  
Hutchin's supposed sighting had worried Miller. Soldiers were reluctant to attack if a queen was present. Most of the time they would trail would-be hosts until the moment was right to snatch them.  
  
Hutchins turned.  
  
"You think we're being trailed ?"  
  
"It's a possibility. Keep your eyes peeled."  
  
Hutchins nodded, as Miller proceded forward into the hived area. The hiving reduced the size of the corridor by another six inches, and his clothes were constantly getting hung on it. He shined his rifle-light down the corridor. The beam eerily ended about two feet in front of him, beyond a blackness darker than anything he could have possibly imagined. Hiving, and the aliens themselves, absorbed all light, rendering them invisible unless they were backlit.  
  
"Hutchins, you're our flame unit, take lead."  
  
"Uh, I thought you got the flamer ... "  
  
"Oh dear sweet Jesus, don't tell me you've got a pulse rifle ..."  
  
" ... "  
  
"Godammit."  
  
Hutchins was obviously close to panicking. Miller couldn't really blame him.  
  
"Well, it's either this or get nuked. And I'd rather go out fighting."  
  
"R-right."  
  
Hutchins swallowed and nodded.  
  
Miller turned and continued down the corridor. According to the noteputer, there was a relay about a hundred meters ahead.  
  
The air had become humid and thick. Miller was sweating profusely and having a hard time breathing. Hiving was thick on the walls around them. Even the stream in the center of the tunnel seemed to be covered in a layer of slime.  
  
"Only about fifty meters, then we can stand."  
  
His words were absorbed by the thick hiving. The bubbling of the putrid stream was his only response.  
  
"Hutchins ?"  
  
"Hutchins ?!"  
  
No answer. His companion had disappeared. Miller flipped on his black light, and aimed it at the stream, searching for the distinct shape of a lurking soldier.  
  
Nothing.  
  
Miller was now positive he was being trailed by possibly more than one of them. He shone the light all around the room, searching for any movement.  
  
(Gotta keep going. Gotta keep going. Gotta keep going.)  
  
Miller took off down the tunnel towards the relay as fast as he could move in the hived tunnel. His heavy breathing was all that he could hear, and even that was absorbed by the dense air in the corridor. He wasn't even bothering to listen for the telltale chirps and whistles than indicated an alien in hunting mode was stalking him.  
  
Reaching the relay, Miller stood and looked around the room. It was identical to the one the command post had been set up in, and for some reason it was devoid of hiving. Probably because there were enough pipes on the walls already to easily conceal a hiding soldier.  
  
Miller wiped the sweat from his brow and examined the noteputer. The room marked "Turbine Chamber was approximately five hundred meters north of here. He had to keep heading in that direction. That seemed the most logical place for the queen to be housed. Assuming of course that there was one.  
  
A sudden whistling noise, like a singing bird echoed down the corridor he had just come from.  
  
(Soldier ...)  
  
Miller flipped the safety off the pulse rifle and backed as far away from the mouth of the tunnel as he could.  
  
As he backed against the wall, he heard something that terrified him even more.  
  
Two more whistles answered the first one , echoing down two seperate corridors. Three soldiers were converging on him, and he had no idea which direction they were coming from. Backing himself into a corner, Miller crouched low on the ground and turned out the light on his rifle. He noticed a dim orange light set into the ceiling now that his light was out, only adding to the eerie atmostphere of the room.  
  
The attack came quietly when it finally came. A soldier burst into the room from the direction he had just come from, lunging for him. He fired a quick burst from the rifle, which the alien seemed to dodge with superhuman speed. A spiked tail whipped around and slammed into a pipe next to his head, bursting it open. Steam began to pour out, filling the room, obscuring the alien from Miller's vision. Miller backed up against the wall and raised his rifle. Sweat was pouring down his face. He knew that the alien could see him perfectly from wherever it was with it's infrared 'eye' located behind it's ridged skull.  
  
After waiting for about five minutes, the alien still had not shown itself. Miller flipped the light on and searched the room. It had vanished. Breathing heavily, he made his way towards the tunnel that led to the turbine room, cautiously entering it head first. Blackness engulfed him again as he made tracks down the tunnel towards the relay room. He willed his breath to come in shorter, quieter bursts, but he couldn't help it. For the first time in his life, he was terrified.  
  
The whistling chirp came from behind him, so light and airy you could almost have mistaken it for a harmless bird. Miller screamed and began to sprint as fast as he could down the corridor towards the Turbine Room. He heard the sound of claws scrabbling against hive behind him, matching his pace. Throwing himself into the Turbine Room, Miller backed away from the tunnel, towards the inactive turbine.  
  
A deep, scratchy hiss filled the room.  
  
The whistle answered it from down the corridor, coming closer and closer. Miller turned slowly to find himself face to face with a nightmare.  
  
A queen alien was sitting atop the inactive turbine, grinning down at him. Her crowned head was tilted back, as the ceiling was too low for her to rise to her full, malignant height.  
  
The queen hissed and unfolded her outer arms. She was missing the immobilizing egg tube, meaning she would be fully capable of fighting.  
  
The trio of soldiers entered the room slowly, filing one by one into the room from the tunnel behind Miller. She hissed again, her legs unfolding from beneath her as she lowered herself down from the turbine, her tail uncurling and snapping like a whip, preparing to attack. Miller raised his pulse rifle and pulled the trigger. The blast tore through the queen's relatively thin midsection, just below her massive torso, cutting her in two. In the same motion, Miller spun and downed the first two drones with shots from the pulse rifle, blowing one's chest open, and decapitating the other. The third lunged for him, it's nightmare tongue ready to split his head open. He threw himself onto his back and kicked it off of him, his pulse rifle knocked from his hand, sliding across the room. The alien leapt to its feet as Miller drew his pistol and emptied the clip at it, the bullets richocheting off its armored hide, not even slowing it down. The creature lunged again and Miller leapt to the side. The alien matched his movement and raked its razor sharp claws across his torso, and whipped its tail up overr its head like a scorpion. It was obviously trying to keep him alive, it could have killed him with one stroke of its claws. Probably neded more hosts now that its brothers or sisters or whatever were dead. Miller lunged for the pulse rifle and a massive hand shot out and grabbed his leg, dragging him effortlessly backwards. Miller pulled free his combat knife and slashed at the creature's "wrist," not even feeling the acid blood that poured onto his leg. Miller leapt for the pulse rifle again, obtaining a purchase. He yanked the rifle around, just as the creature's tail promptly knocked it out of his hands and opened a gash along his arm. The alien lunged yet again, and Millerkicked out with his right leg, catching the creature in the mouth. The alien gagged and bit down on his foot, pain shooting up his leg. Miller grabbed the rifle, but couldn't tear his leg from the creature's mouth. The alien bit down harder, tearing deeper into his foot, striking bone. Miller raised the rifle and aimed it. He had no choice. Miller closed his eyes and fired a single shot into its face.  
  
The room suddenly became deathly silent. The only sounds were the hissing of acid blood on concrete. The creature had been thrown back far enough by the blast, tearing Miller's boot off.  
  
Despite her loss of half her body, the queen was still alive. She had pulled herself over into a corner and had folded her outer arms about her massive skull and was screeching softly, almost as if to herself.  
  
Miller turned and began to crawl back down the tunnel he had entered. Half an hour later, he was back at the command post. Climbing up the ladder, he found Nelson still sitting by the curb, smoking.  
  
"Thanks for the assist, Corporal."  
  
Nelson spun, genuinely shocked.  
  
"Sergeant ?! You're alive ?!"  
  
"No thanks to you. Hand me your radio."  
  
Nelson obliged, still in awe.  
  
"Sir, this is Master Sergeant Stephen Miller. Threat neutralized."  
  
A staticy voice crackled back through the com.  
  
"What was the head count ?"  
  
"Three drones and an infertile queen. Guess there weren't any males around to mate her."  
  
"Roger. Good work, Sergeant. I'll tell the fighters to abort."  
  
Miller nodded, and collapsed against the curb, too tired to care that between his own species and the aliens, he had almost lost his life that day.  
  
-------------------------------- TWO MONTHS LATER --------------------------------  
  
Doctor Hireki entered the room, nodding to the med techs. He immediately made his way over to Doctor Shen, who was reclining against a console, smoking a cigarette.  
  
"I'm told you have something I'll like."  
  
Doctor Shen grinned and pressed a button on the console. A pair of massive metal shutter began to open before them, revealing a fully grown queen alien sitting atop her egg tube.  
  
"Found her on TS - 1380. Careless soldier apparently didn't know they can regenerate lost body parts. Left her for dead."  
  
Doctor Hireki grinned.  
  
"Excellent."  
  
-------------- -FIN- -------------- 


End file.
